Saturday, April 6, 2013

Project the Second: decisions... decisions...

I recently made 3 video captures that I find interesting and I thought I could use for future projects.

This time around I want to make a poster. Unlike a Golden Books book cover, a poster doesn't have to introduce a story or feature a gag. It only has to be representative of the character. Keeping that in mind, here are the captures.

Here's the first capture:

First of all, notice the clarity. Whoever posted this video to YouTube chose a really high resolution copy; the capture is frameable in its own right.

I love the Art Lozzi fall colors in the trees and the shading of the grass, as well as the faded purplish, rolling hills/mountains in the background. This is a great representation of Snagglepuss in his famous, "Exit! Stage left!" pose.

Here's the next capture:

Here we see Ricochet Rabbit and his sidekick. Notice how Ricochet's pose is so similar to the Snagglepuss pose. But there's no humor in Ricochet's expression. He's off to serious business. That could tell a story, yes. But a poster? I dunno... but I'm not ruling it out.

One thing that appeals to me is the desert backdrop. All those saguaro cactus against a peach sky... very Hanna Barbera from the early '60s. When I was a kid I'd watch these cartoons on a little black and white set and I couldn't appreciate the wonderful soft colors used for the backgrounds. Shame because I'd have enjoyed them more.

Lastly, here's another high resolution capture:

Now, I thought with some modification this would make a good comic book cover. The trick with comic book covers - as opposed to Golden Book covers, which serve to introduce the story - is there has to be some kind of gag.

Here we have Barney, Fred, and their little buddy Kazoo (according to Iwao Takamoto, Kazoo is the only Flintstones character he designed; incidentally, I just finished reading the late Mr. Takamoto's book, My Life with a Thousand Characters; I highly recommend it!)

Unfortunately, nothing funny is happening here. Fred's laughing... but why? I thought maybe if Kazoo had a dinosaur egg wedged between his antenna... I dunno, that's not very funny. Well, it's kinda funny. But you see the thinking process: with a little work this could be made into a solid comic book cover.

Actually, because it isn't a gag and it doesn't tell a story, and it is somewhat representative of the characters (Fred's a ham; Barney's worried; Kazoo is just plain pissed off) this is also good poster material.

Hmmmm.... decisions, decisions.

You know, I think I'm going to go with choice number one, Snagglepuss, because the capture is so perfectly representative. But I do intend to use numbers two and three in future projects.

About Me

The purpose of this blog is to introduce my storybook characters starting with Hubert Hippo and his pals Croc and Morley Monkey. There will be others as time goes by. Also, Hubert has a few enemies... namely, the "animal catchers" Bill Boolingsley, Fat Sam, and Bob. They catch animals and sell them to collectors. Boo. Horrible people (well, Bob turns out not to be so bad). I'll also be introducing a space alien and three kids who try to help him out. There will also be the Bongo Beachniks; these guys have a nice little tropical jazz trio and they play at the Coconut Cave... until they're replaced by a jukebox. But more on that later.
I like cartoons and I like certain cartooney themes: animal pals, retro tiki, space ships and aliens, and anything spooky. So here is where I'll introduce my characters and their stories to the world. Stay tuned.